Stakes in Syria higher than ever

Farid Mirbagheri, Cyprus Mail

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Excerpt:

The US should ... face up to its global responsibilities. The vacuum left by its hasty withdrawal from Iraq has already led to the emergence of ISIS. President Obama’s refusal to use force when his own red lines were breached by the use of chemical weapons only emboldened those bent on violence. It is high time some unwritten rules were brought back into play in West Asian politics.

And Russia should not forget the fate of the Soviet Union. More powerful than the present Russian Federation, the USSR eventually had to succumb to the low politics of the people. Accordingly, Moscow should heed the wishes of people of the target countries in its foreign policy, wherever they may be. Public diplomacy nowadays has the last word on international politics. ...